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Credit: WWE.com
While AEW continued to celebrate the New Year this week, NXT kicked off the 2021 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic on Wednesday’s show.
The tournament will feature new and existing teams competing in matches in the coming weeks before the final two teams fight for the coveted trophy.
Adam Cole and Roderick Strong of The Undisputed Era faced Breezango, while The Grizzled Young Veterans fought Ever-Rise.
We also saw the best NXT couple in action when Candice LeRae faced Shotzi Blackheart and Johnny Gargano fought against Dexter Lumis.
Let’s take a look at everything that happened on this week’s show.
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NXT wasted no time in taking action. As soon as the opening video ended, LeRae and Blackheart appeared for the opening match.
They immediately started using a fast pace and seemed balanced until Blackheart took LeRae to a scissor-arm finish.
Indi Hartwell cheered for LeRae on the side of the ring when she started to fight. They took the fight out of the ring and Blackheart hit the steel steps with a knee. Hartwell’s distraction allowed The Poison Pixie to take over.
They changed the advantage several times, but none of the contestants managed to put the other aside until LeRae hit a swinging neck from the middle stretcher to the pin. Hartwell provided another distraction to give him the victory.
Degree: B
Analyze
Blackheart and LeRae are known as risk takers, so it was no surprise when they started flying around the ring to kill themselves.
Even with a small crowd present, you could say that the fans loved Blackheart. LeRae played a good jump, but it was the green-haired girl who stood out for most of the match.
Hartwell did a good job as a LeRae performer in the ring, but it would be nice to get some more segments that would allow us to get to know his character better.
Overall, this was a good way to start the action at night. Blackheart will easily recover from that loss.
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The first round of the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic started with Ever-Rise facing The Grizzled Young Veterans.
Zack Gibson took control immediately and brought in James Drake to keep up the pressure. Chase Parker pulled Drake by the hair to turn the tables. Gibson had to calm Drake so he wouldn’t disqualify the team.
Gibson came in and hit Matt Martel on the apron before turning his attention to Parker. GYV spent the next few minutes putting Parker in the juicer.
Martel finally got the hot spot and went after both opponents with a flurry of attacks. Both teams participated in a sequence of double team moves that led Gibson and Drake to hit their finisher for victory.
Degree: B-
Analyze
This was a fast-paced game with a solid double fight, but the last few minutes were a bit much at the same time.
Some tag team points in a row are good, but once the referee gets away and lets everyone be in the ring as much as they want, it gets very chaotic.
Other than that, it was a fun fight. Grizzled Young Veterans continue to impress with every ride, but Ever-Rise needs a little fine adjustment.
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After a quick promotion from Blackheart and Ember Moon announcing their next appearance in the Dusty Rhodes Cup, Lumis and Gargano appeared for their fight.
The North American championship of Gargano was not at stake, but he still had Austin Theory beside the ring to provide him with some support. Gargano tore one of Lumis’s drawings, and the Tortured Artist dropped it easily.
He chased Gargano scarily out of the ring, but Johnny Wrestling was still able to land a kick in the face. They fought on the upper rope until Lumis took him down. Gargano avoided a senton bomb when the show went to halftime.
Lumis started to recover and uncorked some stiff right hands. It looked like he had the fight under control, but a distraction from Theory caused Gargano to roll Lumis to victory.
Gargano and Theory tried to attack Lumis after the fight, but Kushida came running down to defend. Kushida made it clear that he comes for the North American championship.
Degree: B-
Analyze
Lumis is one of the most exclusive talents in the entire NXT, but management may not know how they want to use it yet. Of course, WWE wants to put pressure on him, but it’s not rushing to establish his character.
Both stars have incredible talent, but it looked like they were holding on a little bit in this match. We saw many fighters saving their best ideas for PPV fights, but it was much more obvious than usual in this fight.
This game was good, but it never seemed to reach the level that these two are capable of reaching. It is difficult to identify exactly what was missing. It just fell a little short. This should have been the game of the night, but it will not stand out in the end.
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The new tag team on the block made its debut this week when MSK faced Jake Atlas and Isaiah Scott in another first round match in the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.
Atlas started against Nash Carter. They had a good exchange of takedowns and counterattacks that led Atlas to receive a count of two.
Swerve scored and Carter brought Wes Lee. After a moment, Scott and Atlas cornered the newcomer for a two-team combo. Scott and Atlas employed some dirty tactics, and this led to a big fight in the ring with the four men.
We came back from a break to see Carter holding Scott in a skyscraper. Both made the mark and Lee was furious. The two teams came close, but it was the MSK that ended up winning the victory to advance in the tournament.
Degree: C +
Analyze
This was another match that had a fast pace and a lot of energy, but being the debut of MSK, formerly known as The Rascalz, made the situation a little more interesting.
WWE didn’t waste a lot of time announcing the group’s arrival, but it teased it with some graphics recently. Debuting as part of this tournament was an interesting decision because if the MSK does not win, it means that it will lose one of its first NXT matches.
Atlas and Scott worked well together, but they would never become a permanent team, so being eliminated early is the best. They made MSK look good.
The only major complaint in this game was the lack of pace. It seemed that they simply moved from one location to another without wasting time to sell anything. This may have more to do with wanting to pack as much as possible in the match, but sometimes less is more.
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After returning last week with a decisive victory, Xia Li returned this week to fight another jobber. She landed a right hand and a spinning kick to win. She applied a little more punishment after the match was over.
Degree: B
Analyze
As a combination, this was not much. As a way of making Li look unstoppable, it was incredible. Classifying two blows and a post-game attack is almost impossible, so that score is based on how well this segment worked.
Li has a presence about her that makes her stand out from everyone else on the list. If WWE continues to hire her that way, it won’t be long before she gets a shot at the title.
The entrance, the music, the look and the change in attitude match it. It will be interesting to see if Boa will have the same success when she starts to fight more often.
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The main event featured Tyler Breeze and Fandango facing Cole and Strong of The Undisputed Era in the third Dusty Classic fight of the night. Kyle O’Reilly accompanied his teammates to the ring, although he was not released by the doctors.
Breeze and Cole came to a halt after their first exchange and shook hands as a show of respect before closing again. Both marked their partners so that Strong and Fandango could be right.
We came back from a break to see Breezango dominating Cole with some standard tag team tactics. The EU leader brought The Master of the Backbreaker to do what he does best.
Strong unleashed a flood of offensives against the two men. As soon as Cole recovered, Strong scored him for a double team move to almost fall. Breeze turned the game around and scored Fandango to start a sequence that involved all four men fighting each other in various ways.
Pete Dunne, Oney Lorcan and Danny Burch attacked KOR in the ring until Finn Balor tried to defend. Pat McAfee’s friends eliminated them, but Cole overcame the distraction to hit a superkick for Breeze and win.
Degree: AN-
Analyze
As expected, this was the best match of the night. The chemistry between all four men in the ring was off the charts and they used it to have a memorable performance.
The loud jokes beside the ring marked the third time a match ended with interference this week, but out of the three, it made more sense from the point of view of the plot. WWE addressed three different fiefdoms efficiently at the same time.
This fight was an excellent example of how good Breeze and Fandango are. They make everything look easy and always elevate their opponents. That was the best possible way to end this week’s show.